Insulator-connector



H. T. PIERCE AND' A. 0. McPHEE. INSULATOR CONNECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, I918. v

375,974, Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY T. PIERCE AND ANGUS ID. MCIPHEE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOBS TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION 01" NEW YORK.

INSULATOR-CONNECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A r. 26 1921 Application filed February 11, 1918. Serial'No. 216,453.

To all whom it may come m:

Beit known that we, HENRY T. PIERCE and ANGUS D. MoPrrEE, said PIERCE being a citizen of the United States, said MoPI-IEE a citizen of Canada, both residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts. have invented a new and useful Insulator- Connector, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for mechanically connecting high tension suspension insulators together in series or to sup,- ports and wire clamps. At the present time there are two forms of high tension suspension insulators in general use; one known as the cemented type, and the other a the Hewlett type. In the cemented type the metallic connecting devices are rigidly attached to the tops and bottoms of the insulator disks by cement and the bottom device of one insulator connected to the top device.

of the next insulator by a hinge joint' In the Hewlett type two arcuate holes are formed in the body of the insulator in such manner that they interlink within the insulating material with a substantial wall separating them and efl'ectually insulating the metallic connecting devices or links received by the arcuate holes.

The cemented type of insulator has been found unsatisfactory on account of the tendency of the insulator disk to break due to the unequal contraction and expansion of the parts rigidly cemented together.

The Hewlett type of insulator avoidsthe objection above noted, but it has not found favor with the construction men for the rea-" son" that the connecting devices heretofore employed have not permitted of ready assemblage of the insulators or the replacement of a broken insulator in service. Those prior connecting. devices have consisted either of flexible wire threaded a number'of object of our invention to provide an improved'and sunplified construction of such insulator connectors, by means of which increased strength, utility, and convenience of operation may be obtained.

7 With this general object in view, an important feature of our invention relates to the prov sion of a two-part connector formed of duphcate J.Shaped parts reversely connected by suitable securing means.

Certaln features of our invention are also adapted for use in a connector by means of wh ch the end insulator of a set may be conveniently connected with any suitable support or clamping device.

' Our invention further relates to certain arrangements and combinations of parts whlch will be I hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 1 p Y Several forms of our invention are shown in the drawings in which C Figure 1 is a sectional view of a partial set of insulators connected by our improved connectors;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the means for joining the two portions of the connector together;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2;

Figs. 4: and Saw a front elevation and side view, respectively of a modified form of our invention, and

Figs. 6 and v7 are similar views of a second, modification. i

Referring to Fig.1 we have shown our invention in connection with a common form of porcelain insulator known commercially as the Hewlett insulator. This insulator as shown is provided with two curved interlinkedpassages extending into the body of the insulator at right angles to each other and from opposite sides, each surperforations 13, which are preferably elongated longitudinally of the said end portions.

The end portion 11 is preferably forked as shown at 14 and is also provided with perforations or passages 15, preferably elongated as previously described. The end por-' tions 10 and 11 may each be slightly enlarged laterally to their plane as shown in the drawing, and the end portion 10 is designedly contracted in its plane to facilitate threading through the small crooked passageway of the insulator. I

A stud 16, preferably havlng an elongated cross-section similar to the perforations 13 and 15, forms a convenient means for con necting the end portions 10 and 11 together, the stud being retained in position by a' cotter pin 17.

It will be understood, however, that our invention is not limited to the use of any particular securing means and that any suitable substitute for the means shown in the drawings may be employed.

It will be seen that the parts Aand B are exact duplicates of each other, and that they are reversely connected in pa rs when 111 use.

The provision of the relatively short end portion 10 is necessary to permit the connector to be threaded through the passage in the insulator, and the provision of the longer end portion 11 is desirable to, permit a sufficient spacing of the insulators from each other when in use.

The difierence in relative length of the parts 10 and 11 will be greater'or less according to the particuar shape and size of the insulator with which the connector 1s used.

While we do not wish to be limited to the use of a stud having an elongated cross-- section, except as set forth in the claims, nevertheless this form of stud is considered very desirable, as it materially increases the strength of the assembled connector, wlthout correspondingly increasing the width of the end portion 10 which width is limited to the diameter of the passage in the insulator, which, because of practical considerations in porcelain manufacture, is also limited.

In Figs. 4 and 5 we have shown a form of our invention suitable for connecting the end member of a series of insulators to a suitable support. In this construction, we use a member 20 having asemi-circularintermediate portion 21 similar to the portion 12 previously described, and two straight separated end portions 22' each similarto the end portion 10 previously described. This member 20 is used with a member 2% having two forked portions 25 adapted to receive the end portions 22, and having clevis projections 26, by means of which it may be conveniently attached to any suitable support. In Figs 6 and 7 is shown a member similar to the member 2-l but having a different attachment projection 27. Connectors in these forms are suitable for connecting the end insulator of a set or series to a support or to a clamp secured to a high tension wire.

The parts of our improved connector may be formed of any suitable material, such as bronze or cast or malleable iron, or they may be made in the form of drop forgings. When thus formed, the surface engaging V the porcelain may be slightly irregular, and we have indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 a sleeve 80, surrounding the semi-circular portion 21, and intended to serve as a cushion between the porcelain insulator and connector. This sleeve 30 may be formed of lead or copper or of any other suitable material, which will have a cushioning effect and will tend to equalize the pressure upon different portions of the insulator. While we have shown this sleeve only in connection with the member 20 it will be understood that it is also equally adapted for use in connection with the members A and B shown in Fig. 1. H

WVe call particular attention to the simplicity of our device as compared with similar devices previously used, and also to the extremely convenient manner in which the several parts may be assembled in the field, or, 111 WlllCh they may be separated in case of breakage of an insulator.

Having thus described our invention, it.

will be evident that other changes and modifications can be made therein, by those.

skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, as set forth in the claims, and we do not wish to be otherwise limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is 1. The combination of two disk insulators having curved passageways therein, two J- shaped tension members each threaded through a passageway of the respective insulators, and means for positively locking together the reverse ends of said't'ension members. i

2. The combination of two disk insulators having curved passageways therein,"-two J- shaped tension members threaded through a passageway of the respective insulators, the long arm on each tension member having an enlarged end adapted to receive and posi tively engage theshort arm of the other'tension member.

3. An insulator connector having, in comend portions and the other member having cooperating perforated portions adapted to receive sald end portions, the perforations in both members being elongated and the connecting means comprising studs of similarly elongated cross section.

4. An insulator connector comprising two duplicate members, adapted to be reversely connected to each other when in use, and means to connect said parts together, each member having a longer and a shorter portion joined by a substantially semi-circular intermediate portion, the long portion having an enlarged recessed end and the short portion having a relatively small end adapted to enter the recessed end of the duplicate member, and means to lock said small end in said recessed end.

7 5. An insulator connector comprising members having portions of relatively different lengths, joined by substantially semicircular intermediate portions, the longer portions being provided with enlarged recessed ends and the shorter portions being provided with relatively small ends each adapted to enter the recessed end of the other member, and means to connect said members together in reversely disposed pairs.

6. A11 insulator connector having, in combination, two duplicate pieces each comprising longer and shorter end portions joined by a substantially semi-circular intermediate portion, and means to connect said pieces to each other in reversed position, said end portions being perforated and each longer end portion being forked, and said means comprising studs extendin transversely through said perforations, said perforations being elongated longitudinally of said members, and said studs having similarly elongated cross-sections. In testimony whereof we have hereunto afiixed our signatures.

HENRY T. PIERCE. ANGUS D. MoPHEE. 

